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Standard pond

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Standard Pond play: eco first with Bot Lab and later Advanced Metal Extractor, boosting the fronts with Tidal Generators and sending Grunts forward; no special catch.

#eco #team support · 94 distinct matches · 38 players · 13% of Cortex Pond games · team won 47% of 94 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 5:03

  1. Build tidal generators first to start boosting the fronts.
  2. Grab mex and energy storage before committing further.
  3. Put down the bot lab and start sending Grunts forward.
  4. Fill out wind and add a Guard for early defense.
  5. Transition to T2 with an advanced mex once front stabilizes.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 94 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:00 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

  1. 1

    Up to the Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal−2 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 2 tidal, 2 winddone ~3:32, middle half 3:21–4:35

    By 3:13 in all: 4 mex · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 4 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Mex ×4
    3. Wind ×7
    4. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:17 · typical 3:32
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot

    Some games also: con turret (47%) · converter (37%) · Graverobber (32%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Energy storage
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. Wind ×2
    6. AggravatorAggravator ×2for Suicide front
    7. Con turret
    8. AggravatorAggravator ×4for Suicide front
    9. AggravatorAggravator
    10. Converter
    11. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    12. Converter
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine18Wind+18 vs standard
    • Energy Converter4Converter+4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (48%) · con bot (33%) · eat Bot Lab (45%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 25 wind (standard 8) · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 6 converter (standard 1) · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 97 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×4for Suicide front
    2. GuardGuard
    3. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    4. GuardGuard
    5. AggravatorAggravator ×2for Suicide front
    6. GuardGuard
    7. AggravatorAggravator ×2for Suicide front
    8. GuardGuard
    9. AggravatorAggravator ×2for Suicide front
    10. GuardGuard
    11. AggravatorAggravator ×3for Suicide front
    12. Mexfor Suicide front
    13. AggravatorAggravator ×2for Suicide front
    14. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    15. GruntGrunt ×4
    16. Construction BotCon bot
    17. Wind
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt ×2
    21. Wind
    22. GruntGrunt
    23. Con turret
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. Wind
    26. GruntGrunt ×2
    27. Wind
    28. Converter
    29. GruntGrunt ×2
    30. Converter
    31. Wind
    32. GruntGrunt
    33. Mexfor Geo sea
    34. GruntGrunt
    35. Wind
    36. GruntGrunt
    37. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    38. Wind
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Wind
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Wind
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. Wind
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. Wind
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:32 · typical 9:07
    51. Wind
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. Wind
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Wind
    56. GruntGrunt
    57. Wind ×3
    58. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2
    59. GruntGrunt ×7
    60. Wind
    61. GruntGrunt
    62. Wind
    63. GruntGrunt
    64. Con turret
    65. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    66. Wind
    67. GruntGrunt
    68. Con turret
    69. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    70. Wind
    71. Con turret
    72. Wind
    73. Con turret
    74. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    75. Wind
    76. GraverobberGraverobber
    77. Wind
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt ×2
    81. Wind
    82. GruntGrunt ×2
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind ×2
    86. T2 converter
    87. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    88. Wind
    89. Con turret ×4
    90. Wind ×3
    91. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant ×2done 14:41
    92. Wind
    93. Con turret
    94. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    95. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    96. Con turret
    97. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Alexspeed's (34 OS, 13/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · in 96% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:22 · in 80% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build, running totals by minute

Metal produced

010k20k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

94 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0026000
3:0075200
4:00141400
5:00214200
6:00295100
7:00383900
8:0049135173
9:006340185172
10:007751321513
11:009899740796
12:001235111421054
13:001491015751637
14:001720918372073
15:001993426232966
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

This Cortex pond baseline wins under half its games, with enemy metal destroyed just ahead of own losses by 15:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed (3099) edges past own metal lost (3482) less than in Armada pond.
  • − Bot Lab finishes later (5:03) than the Armada pond norm (3:41), slower front support.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Alexspeed

33.6 OS · 13/09/2026

Open source match ↗

1 received units · includes a constructor
424 metal received · 91765 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:32Middle 50%: 3:21–4:35 · n=70
Advanced Metal Extractor9:07Middle 50%: 7:43–10:16 · n=77

Played most by

Yamato18games of this buildzeus_on_god7games of this buildEpicTyrannus6games of this buildEXZoPrimer36games of this buildBoozha5games of this build